MAME PC opinions

PrepP

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So I need some advice on how "beefy" of a PC I need to run a Hyperspin FE setup running almost all available emulators. MAME,NES,SNES,64,Dreamcast,Neo-Geo,Genisis, Sega-cd, basically everything.

I had planned on using a dual core slim tower dell that wsa going to be given to me but those plans have fallen through. I am now shopping for a powerful enough machine that can run everything smoothly. I am ok with a couple games not being able to play but would like the majority of them to work.

Can anyone give me a general idea of some specs that would be able to run that kind of setup?

Also is Windows 7 64bit a good OS to run?

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.
 
I picked up a slightly less than $400 desktop from Wally World to run my MAME. I know specs help a lot and I don't have them handy but I figured a price point would be a good idea to compare.

Hyperspin does stutter on the intro video, and some of the extras like more graphics during the emulator selection. You can tailor it down so it's not as fancy, but it does lose some of its pizazz. All of the emulators play fine, however I haven't installed any 64 emulators yet (even though I have them), or anything that was released after that.

I can run Hyperspin 100% perfect on my $800 laptop though. They both use 64 bit Windows 7, and it works without problems. My MAME project is still in it's infant stage even though I've had the project for about a year now, and I have currently opted not to use a front end system for the time being.
 
I built my MAME machine a little over a year ago. Instead of buying a whole PC, just buy a motherboard, CPU, RAM & Hard Drive. I am running a ASUS board with a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, 2GB RAM and a 512 MB PCI express video card, 500 GB hard drive.

All I had to do was remove the existing Neo Geo motherboard and move the mounting posts to align with the new PC motherboard. I think I paid about $160 for the MB, CPU & RAM and had a hard drive and power supply sitting around. It runs a lot cooler than having a PC case inside an arcade cabinet (plus it looks more...professional). You should only need a CD-ROM to install the OS, then it should not be needed.

I ran Hyperspin no problem.

My system is running Win XP Pro 32-bit which I recommend highly!
 
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Core i3/i5/i7 is your best bet here. Video card with at least 256megs of video ram, better with 512 or 1 gig.

Mobo RAM should be at least 2 gigs. Better 4 or more, but only if you're considering a 64 bit operating system.

XP trimmed down runs like a striped ape on steroids on that setup. No need for a 64 bit OS, you'll just get into driver trouble. No need for Win7. Plus, XP is fully hacked at this point, so you get more flexibility there.

Hard drive: 500 gigs, if you plan to have full artwork packs, intro vids and disc images for the PSX and carts for the N64 stored locally.

Above setup should run everything through 2000 pretty well. Blitz 99, Golden Axe Gauntlet, etc should all run fine. NOTHING will run everything.

LOTS more info on the BYOAC forums. I'd suggest poking around there.

An alternative would be a dual/quad core setup, overclocked to 3.5ghz or so. That will get you 90% there, for MUCH less money. But it's all really about what's available to you. My home theater PC has a Mobo that will accept a quad core Intel CPU and I can O/C it to 3.8ghz with stock cooling and good RAM, so when I upgrade my HTPC, I'll be taking that mobo to my MAME rig.

I currently have a Pentium 3.2HT in there, and it runs most of what I like already, including .CHD titles like Area51. Won't run Blitz though.
 
I picked up a slightly less than $400 desktop from Wally World to run my MAME. I know specs help a lot and I don't have them handy but I figured a price point would be a good idea to compare.

Hyperspin does stutter on the intro video, and some of the extras like more graphics during the emulator selection. You can tailor it down so it's not as fancy, but it does lose some of its pizazz. All of the emulators play fine, however I haven't installed any 64 emulators yet (even though I have them), or anything that was released after that.

I can run Hyperspin 100% perfect on my $800 laptop though. They both use 64 bit Windows 7, and it works without problems. My MAME project is still in it's infant stage even though I've had the project for about a year now, and I have currently opted not to use a front end system for the time being.

Drew, $400 would be the most I want to spend. Ive seen some quad core machines in that price that have caught my attention. BUT I would like to get a cheaper say $250 machine like a dual core if thats capable of running the kind of setup I want. This is my first MAME build so I really don't know what the specs should be for a PC running all of that smoothly.

I guess what I am looking for is that fine line between cost/performance. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a beast PC that is overkill but I am willing to spend enough so that I am able to run the setup I want smoothly.
 
At the risk of getting too far off topic here, have you finished your cab yet?

LONG before you drop the PC in, you should have your cab done and ready to go.

Don't make the same mistake I did - I got my cab 90% built, then spent all of my time getting the software/hardware side up and running. Once the cab was playable, it was all over. Now I have a cab that still needs finishing touches, but I never got to them. I spent too much time playing :)
 
Core i3/i5/i7 is your best bet here. Video card with at least 256megs of video ram, better with 512 or 1 gig.

Mobo RAM should be at least 2 gigs. Better 4 or more, but only if you're considering a 64 bit operating system.

XP trimmed down runs like a striped ape on steroids on that setup. No need for a 64 bit OS, you'll just get into driver trouble. No need for Win7. Plus, XP is fully hacked at this point, so you get more flexibility there.

Hard drive: 500 gigs, if you plan to have full artwork packs, intro vids and disc images for the PSX and carts for the N64 stored locally.

Above setup should run everything through 2000 pretty well. Blitz 99, Golden Axe Gauntlet, etc should all run fine. NOTHING will run everything.

LOTS more info on the BYOAC forums. I'd suggest poking around there.

An alternative would be a dual/quad core setup, overclocked to 3.5ghz or so. That will get you 90% there, for MUCH less money. But it's all really about what's available to you. My home theater PC has a Mobo that will accept a quad core Intel CPU and I can O/C it to 3.8ghz with stock cooling and good RAM, so when I upgrade my HTPC, I'll be taking that mobo to my MAME rig.

I currently have a Pentium 3.2HT in there, and it runs most of what I like already, including .CHD titles like Area51. Won't run Blitz though.

Thanks STG ! Very helpful info. I will probably keep searching for a good deal on a quad core machine. I have a 2TB HD on the way for whatever PC i end up getting. That should be big enough for everything I need (FE,roms,box art, vids,etc).My plan is to get something running like what this guy has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunKAJZ0sbE

He says he is running "Intel 3 GHz Dual Core Processor, Nvidia 9800 GTX, 4 GB DDR2 Ram"

Anyone know of any websites that offers good deals on PC's. I don't mind if they are refurbed either. Are there any "deal-a-day" sites like woot that deal in computers?
 
At the risk of getting too far off topic here, have you finished your cab yet?

LONG before you drop the PC in, you should have your cab done and ready to go.

Don't make the same mistake I did - I got my cab 90% built, then spent all of my time getting the software/hardware side up and running. Once the cab was playable, it was all over. Now I have a cab that still needs finishing touches, but I never got to them. I spent too much time playing :)

LOL. I may be jumping the gun. I have my cab stripped down and ready to paint. I am waiting to get the control panel designed and finished before I paint it. I'm just steady looking for deals on parts I will need so I will have it all here when the time comes for installing it all. I would also like to go ahead and start setting up the software, roms, Hyperspin ahead of time so it will be ready when the cab is. I heard Hyperspin is kinda tough to configure.
 
i got my cab 90% built, then spent all of my time getting the software/hardware side up and running. Once the cab was playable, it was all over. Now i have a cab that still needs finishing touches, but i never got to them. I spent too much time playing

+1


padding
 

Well this is my first project. I had a old gutted cab waiting for me to convert for a while. I finally got around to starting on it. I'd like to go the PC route for this cabinet. But I have seen those XBOX conversions and think they are awesome too. I am really into this project so once it is completed I will probably look into making my own MAME XBOX to hook up to my TV.
 
That Youtube video can be misleading. Sure, the splash screen shows Windows7 Ultimate....but is it really? It's like the video just begins as the computer 'resumes' from standby, or he starts the video at the point that Windows is loading. I'd liketo see his cab starting from a cold boot. I'd bet you see all kinds of BIOS garbage, startup screens, etc.

That's where shelled XP comes in nicely. Unless you were told, you won't know that my cab is running a PC. You see absolutely ZERO traces of Windows on the screen. Everything has been stripped away: boot screens, cursors, deskptop, everything. Since the monitor takes 3-5 seconds to establish high voltage to display the screen, you don't even see the POST language on a cold boot. Just 17 seconds to the front end, after watching a 'LOADING..." screen. Pressing the power switch on my cab just sends it to S2 hibernation. Pressing it again wakes it up, and it resumes right back to the front end. All custom screens.

CAUTION: this takes TIME....serious TIME.
 
That Youtube video can be misleading. Sure, the splash screen shows Windows7 Ultimate....but is it really? It's like the video just begins as the computer 'resumes' from standby, or he starts the video at the point that Windows is loading. I'd liketo see his cab starting from a cold boot. I'd bet you see all kinds of BIOS garbage, startup screens, etc.

That's where shelled XP comes in nicely. Unless you were told, you won't know that my cab is running a PC. You see absolutely ZERO traces of Windows on the screen. Everything has been stripped away: boot screens, cursors, deskptop, everything. Since the monitor takes 3-5 seconds to establish high voltage to display the screen, you don't even see the POST language on a cold boot. Just 17 seconds to the front end, after watching a 'LOADING..." screen. Pressing the power switch on my cab just sends it to S2 hibernation. Pressing it again wakes it up, and it resumes right back to the front end. All custom screens.

CAUTION: this takes TIME....serious TIME.

You are right. What you explained is how I picture it in my head. I hit the power switch on my cab and it boots right into hyperspin (or looks like it does). You make some very valid points for using XP as the OS. I may just go that route.
 
mames minimum specs to run anything thats playable are
p4 with ht 2.8 or better
512 ram (1 gig recccomended)
at least a 256 gfx card



i have built a ton of mame rigs using old compaq sff workstation pc's with that setup and only notice slowdown on the games that are marked as having problems anyway



in reality for future mame updates i would go above the minium specs

for my higher end machines i use any dual core amd cpu (intel is no better than amd for a mame rig and amd is usually half the price)
i usually get these

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355993


and usually get one of these 2 motherboards depending on whats on sale at the time(microcenter also is doing a free mobo with cpu purcase right now)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354008
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0350745

as for ram its pretty cheap if you go with the above mobo's
you dont need anything fancy
and only need 1 stick if you get these
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331256


as for graffix cards i have been using these as they are cheap (19.00 after rebate)but have 1gb memory
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354355


as for harddrives
if you are just doing mame i recomend getting a ss drive there is a nice 64 gb one that will give you enough room for your os and a complete working game rom set
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351760
if you must use other emus as well it really just depends on how much youo want to spend and how big you need it to be

dont buy any hd's that are under 7500 rpm

as for an os use win xp stay away from the lite versions and hacked versions ans there are usually striped drivers and system componentss on the lite versions and the hacked versions usually have a crap ton of not need apps included wich make them bloated and slower

for a front end use
game ex hyper spin is a pia and it sucks trying to use joys and buttons to nagavite thrue the damn wheel
game ex also has a sweet juke box feature as well and setup can be don by my 3 year old lol
http://www.gameex.net/


also for a seamless boot into your frontend with no signs of windows use this app
http://www.gameex.net/download/instantsheller.zip


point it to the exe of your front end and if you need a pasword to login click the setaouto login button and bam next time you reboot you will see nothing of windows

if you want to change the art for the boot screen just create a picture 640x480 and name it the same as the boot immage in the zip package

here is the info page for the shelling app\
http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide.aspx
 
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As far as I know (I last looked 6 months ago) there is still not a completely hidden execution of Windows7 on a PC cab. Some are close, but not all the way there. Most are working around it by using relays on their monitors, not having them turn on until a specified time lapse. I think that's stupid. Just like an authentic arcade cabinet, I want to SEE something right after my monitor warms up, and I don't want to wait 30 seconds for my monitor to turn on.

Don't even get me STARTED on using an LCD. Whole other topic.
 
mames minimum specs to run anything thats playable are
p4 with ht 2.8 or better
512 ram (1 gig recccomended)
at least a 256 gfx card



i have built a ton of mame rigs using old compaq sff workstation pc's with that setup and only notice slowdown on the games that are marked as having problems anyway



in reality for future mame updates i would go above the minium specs

for my higher end machines i use any dual core amd cpu (intel is no better than amd for a mame rig and amd is usually half the price)
i usually get these

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355993


and usually get one of these 2 motherboards depending on whats on sale at the time(microcenter also is doing a free mobo with cpu purcase right now)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354008
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0350745

as for ram its pretty cheap if you go with the above mobo's
you dont need anything fancy
and only need 1 stick if you get these
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331256


as for graffix cards i have been using these as they are cheap (19.00 after rebate)but have 1gb memory
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354355


as for harddrives
if you are just doing mame i recomend getting a ss drive there is a nice 64 gb one that will give you enough room for your os and a complete working game rom set
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351760
if you must use other emus as well it really just depends on how much youo want to spend and how big you need it to be

dont buy any hd's that are under 7500 rpm

as for an os use win xp stay away from the lite versions and hacked versions ans there are usually striped drivers and system componentss on the lite versions and the hacked versions usually have a crap ton of not need apps included wich make them bloated and slower

for a front end use
game ex hyper spin is a pia and it sucks trying to use joys and buttons to nagavite thrue the damn wheel
game ex also has a sweet juke box feature as well and setup can be don by my 3 year old lol
http://www.gameex.net/


also for a seamless boot into your frontend with no signs of windows use this app
http://www.gameex.net/download/instantsheller.zip


point it to the exe of your front end and if you need a pasword to login click the setaouto login button and bam next time you reboot you will see nothing of windows

if you want to change the art for the boot screen just create a picture 640x480 and name it the same as the boot immage in the zip package

here is the info page for the shelling app\
http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide.aspx


WOW. Very good info discgolfer. I may go that route and buy everything seperately like the parts that you listed. I alrady have a hard drive on the way. The CPU/free motherboard deal looks good. So i would need to get a PS, OS, RAM, and Video card. I may PM you with more questions if I go that route.

I have been looking at GameEx as a FE too. Right now I would like to try to setup Hyperspin for its slick interface but plan on using GameEx if I can't figure it out.
 
Just my tidbit my mame is running n64 and older just fine even psx.
p4 2.4
1gb ram
500gb hd
256 geforce gfx card
Windows xp

Windows xp works best for me because there is a wiki on how to remove/change the start up and shut down screens. Along with the sounds if you are a noob.

You do not need alot of power just a computer newer that like 2005 lol. and maybe a bigger hdd.
 
mames minimum specs to run anything thats playable are
p4 with ht 2.8 or better
512 ram (1 gig recccomended)
at least a 256 gfx card



i have built a ton of mame rigs using old compaq sff workstation pc's with that setup and only notice slowdown on the games that are marked as having problems anyway



in reality for future mame updates i would go above the minium specs

for my higher end machines i use any dual core amd cpu (intel is no better than amd for a mame rig and amd is usually half the price)
i usually get these

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355993


and usually get one of these 2 motherboards depending on whats on sale at the time(microcenter also is doing a free mobo with cpu purcase right now)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354008
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0350745

as for ram its pretty cheap if you go with the above mobo's
you dont need anything fancy
and only need 1 stick if you get these
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331256


as for graffix cards i have been using these as they are cheap (19.00 after rebate)but have 1gb memory
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354355


as for harddrives
if you are just doing mame i recomend getting a ss drive there is a nice 64 gb one that will give you enough room for your os and a complete working game rom set
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351760
if you must use other emus as well it really just depends on how much youo want to spend and how big you need it to be

dont buy any hd's that are under 7500 rpm

as for an os use win xp stay away from the lite versions and hacked versions ans there are usually striped drivers and system componentss on the lite versions and the hacked versions usually have a crap ton of not need apps included wich make them bloated and slower

for a front end use
game ex hyper spin is a pia and it sucks trying to use joys and buttons to nagavite thrue the damn wheel
game ex also has a sweet juke box feature as well and setup can be don by my 3 year old lol
http://www.gameex.net/


also for a seamless boot into your frontend with no signs of windows use this app
http://www.gameex.net/download/instantsheller.zip


point it to the exe of your front end and if you need a pasword to login click the setaouto login button and bam next time you reboot you will see nothing of windows

if you want to change the art for the boot screen just create a picture 640x480 and name it the same as the boot immage in the zip package

here is the info page for the shelling app\
http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide.aspx

That IS some good info! ...I've been intimidated by making a dedicated mame cab but this makes it seem pretty straight-forward.
 
also to make your life easier
use an lcd "i mean cool you want original" well then go buy the original mame is not original get over it
the extra cost and hassle involved in using a arcade cga or ega monitor is just not worth it not when you can get a 25 inch or larger lcd for 150$

not to mention the weight reduction i move arcade cabs all day long at work and belive me i wish they all had lcd monitors in them


another thing to make life better is to stay away from ultimarc

i use groovy game gear for my ps2 encoder boards they are high quality work well right out of the box and are cheaper than anything ultimarc has
they even have one that is 25$ that save cash by making you solder the wires insted of using the screw blocks

i have bought and used at least 20 of the ps2 encoders from gg and so far none have had any problems
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=76_80
im cheap so i like the solder version
gg also has a optical encoder as well

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_85&products_id=260

they also are one of the cheapest around for happs buttons (you can get cheapo jap crap/china knock off cheaper elswhere but they suck)


another good thing about the upgraded pc spec i listed is if you swap the gfx card out for a gtx 250 you can use the same pc for one of these
IMG_0357.jpg

IMG_0358.jpg
 
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